Teflon Pans

It appears DuPont Co. has cooked up some trouble, for a federal grand jury has slapped the company with a subpoena -- via a request from the U.S. Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section -- regarding the use of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a controversial chemical used to make Teflon non-stick coatings.

And the subpoena comes only a month after Dupont agreed to a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it failed to disclose health safety information about PFOA for 20 years.

Further, while a DuPont spokesman claimed no specific charges have been spelled out yet, the federal grand jury requested documents that were previously turned over to the EPA. The company must turn over the materials by late June.

According to the EPA:

* PFOA remains in humans for years; small amounts of the chemical are believed to be present in a large proportion of the American public.

* Evidence has shown the chemical can cause cancers in rats; the report said PFOA targets the liver in rats and could increase cholesterol and triglyceride levels in humans.

A small ray of hope: DuPont has previously announced plans to replace PFOA in some products by late 2006.

Reuters May 19, 2005